Kruger Files Permit as Part of Expansion

Tissue manufacturer Kruger Inc. has taken another step forward in its $316 million Memphis expansion north of Downtown.

The company this week filed a $600,000 permit application with the city-county Office of Construction Code Enforcement to install a “concrete floor slab for operating and mezzanine floors” in the “tissue machine building” at its 400 Mahannah Ave. plant.

The permit – the latest in a string of applications to be filed in the process – lists KTG USA as the owner and tenant and AMEC Kamtech Inc. as the contractor. KTG is Kruger’s parent company.

Canada’s leading tissue manufacturer announced last August plans for major growth – including another building, a new tissue machine and conversion of other equipment – at its 400 Mahannah Ave. facility, south of the Mississippi River between North Second and Thomas streets.

Kruger chose Memphis over several locales in the U.S. and one in Quebec, Canada. The move preserved 294 local jobs and is expected to create 100 more long-term jobs, as well as 500 direct and indirect jobs during construction, the company estimated last year.

The Memphis City Council in April approved the city’s application for $2 million in state Fast Track Infrastructure Development Grant funds for the project. No matching funding by the city is required to get the state money.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Early Voting Nears 15,000 Mark

Early voting in advance of the Aug. 2 election day was expected to top 15,000 at the end of balloting on Thursday, July 19.

The early voting period continues through July 28.

Shelby County Election Commission figures showed 14,801 citizens cast early ballots in Shelby County through Wednesday, July 19. The daily total for Wednesday at 21 sites across Shelby County was 4,313, down from the first two days of early voting at the same sites.

The top turnout by early voting site has been Collierville Church of Christ where 1,874 votes had been cast through Wednesday. That was followed by New Bethel Baptist Church in Germantown with 1,738 and Bethel Church in Bartlett with 1,320.

At this point in the August 2008 early voting period, which is the same election cycle, just more than 10,000 early votes were cast. The 2008 ballot did not include the six sets of referendums on forming municipal school districts in Shelby County’s six suburban towns and cities.

The ballot questions are expected to drive early and election day voter turnout.

While the numbers from Bartlett, Germantown and Collierville indicate a large turnout there, The Baker Community Center site in Millington showed 787 early voters through Wednesday and theRefuge church in Lakeland had 615 early voters.

The 14,800 early voters are 2.5 percent of the county’s voters, according to Election Commission figures. But the participating voter list data released Thursday showed 583,562 total voters in the county compared to a total voter count of 433,580 in Monday’s version of the same data.

By the Thursday data, 54.8 percent of the early voters cast ballots in the Republican primaries with 43 percent voting in the Democratic primary. The remainder cast early ballots only in the general election contests, which include the municipal schools district referendums.

– Bill Dries

4 North Miss. Counties Receive Drought Help

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated four Mississippi counties as primary natural disaster areas due to the summer drought.

USDA on Thursday, July 19, also said farmers and ranchers in counties that adjoin the primary disaster areas are also eligible for assistance.

The primary disaster counties are DeSoto, Panola, Tate and Tunica.

The contiguous counties where aid is also available are Coahoma, Lafayette, Marshall, Quitman, Tallahatchie and Yalobusha.

Producers in the affected areas can qualify for low-interest government loans.

CRE Veteran Starts Slattery Realty

Slattery is the owner and principal real estate broker for the firm that specializes in commercial and industrial sales, leasing, development and management.

Slattery was formerly vice president and principal broker for Crews Investment Properties of Tennessee LLC. He opened Crews Investment Properties in 1994 with Charles E. Crews. Crews moved to Franklin, Tenn., several years ago.

Crews decided to take a “passive role” as an owner and not grow the brokerage and development business, Slattery said in a statement. Slattery has taken over the marketing and management of all of Crews’ properties, and Crews Investment Properties has become a holding company that will operate from Franklin.

“I’ve been in this business for 32 years and 17 of those years have been with Crews Investment Properties. It has been a great run,” Slattery said. “This gives me the opportunity to grow the brokerage business and cultivate new prospects and partners for future deals, while still handling the properties I developed for Crews.”

– Sarah Baker

Rehab Work to Begin On Rankin Branch Road Bridge

Rankin Branch Road Bridge in North Shelby County will be closed starting Tuesday, July 24, as county work crews begin rehabilitation work on the bridge across Jakes Creek between Meeman Shelby Forest State Park to the west and the city of Millington to the east.

The road between Russell Bond Road and Cuba-Millington Road will be closed through Aug. 10 for the work.

UTHSC, Baptist Announce Orthopedic PT Residency

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. have announced a new Orthopedic Physical Therapy Clinical Residency, which UTHSC officials say is the first of its kind in the state.

Physical therapy clinical residency programs provide an avenue for practicing physical therapists to become specialists in specific areas of physical therapy practice, such as orthopedics, pediatrics and sports physical therapy. Training physical therapists in these settings allows medical doctors to spend more time helping higher-needs patients.

Dr. Carol Likens, associate professor and chairman of the Department of Physical Therapy at UTHSC, said the partnership allows Baptist Memorial Health Care to advance its mission of providing quality patient care through education, while ensuring the UTHSC Department of Physical Therapy remains a leader in providing cutting-edge physical therapy education.

Maura Bailey, a recent graduate of the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at UTHSC, is the program’s first resident.

– Aisling Maki

AAF Memphis to Host Plug In Event

The Memphis Chapter of American Advertising Federation will be hosting its annual Plug In event Thursday, July 26, at Earnestine & Hazel’s, 531 S. Main St., from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m.

The free after-work event will have live music, food and a cash bar. Each of the five bands playing features ad people from agencies like archer-malmo, Red Deluxe Brand Development, Combustion, Sullivan Branding and more.